Russians buy up property in Dubai

RUSSIANS have become the biggest foreign buyers of property in Dubai after the desert oasis became a refuge for wealthy oligarchs fleeing sanctions.

In the wake of the Ukraine war, many super-rich Russians flocked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after they faced asset seizures in other cities such as New York, London and Paris. The UAE has refused to follow the Western sanctions regime imposed on Russians with links to the Kremlin after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, making it essentially a safe haven.

Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea football club who was sanctioned for his links to Mr Putin, was reported to be house-hunting along Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, a group of artificial islands designed to look like a palm tree. The interest in Dubai resulted in a surge in relocations last year, with property broker Betterhomes reporting Russians are now the biggest group of non-resident buyers.

In 2022, they accounted for 15pc of transactions at the company, ahead of Britons at 12pc, Indians 11pc, Italians 7pc and French 4pc.

Dubai registered more than 86,000 residential sales transactions overall last year.